61-year-old Malaysian woman loses over S$20K to phone scam syndicate

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: A 61-year-old retiree in Malaysia lost RM70,000 (S$21,325.52) to a phone scam syndicate after a scammer posed as a police officer and visited her home.

The Sun reported that Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the scam began on Jan 15 when the elderly woman received a call from someone claiming her phone number had been linked to a Shopee account selling unregistered beauty products.

The call was then transferred to another individual who claimed to be a police officer. The so-called officer alleged that the retiree had criminal records and was involved in illegal activities, warning her that all her bank accounts would be frozen. To avoid this, the woman was instructed to transfer all her money to a bank account provided by the scammers.

The next day, a man wearing a face mask visited her home, introduced himself as “Inspt Akmal,” and requested her Bank Islam ATM card to facilitate the transfer to another “safe bank account”. Believing him to be a real officer, she complied.

Mr Ramli added that on Jan 18, the same man visited her again to return the Bank Islam card and asked for her Maybank card, which she handed over.

Two days later, on Jan 20, the scammer contacted her again and instructed her to transfer all the money from her ASB account to her Maybank account. This time, she became suspicious and spoke to her family members, who realised she had been scammed.

Mr Ramli said a police report was lodged in Kota Kinabalu on Jan 21, and authorities are investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which deals with cheating and dishonesty.

Mr Ramli informed the public that government agencies do not conduct inter-agency call transfers.

He clarified that calls from Bank Negara Malaysia, for instance, would not be transferred to the police or courts.

He urged people to be cautious. “If you receive any dubious calls and are transferred from one agency to another, then that is a scam,” he warned.“Immediately hang up” to avoid being becoming a scam victim, he advised. /TISG

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